CATOOSA — Friday night belonged to the hometown contingent from Mannford and Sand Springs, with several area drivers putting together strong runs across multiple divisions at Port City Raceway in Catoosa.
28L
The biggest mover among local racers may have been Jensen Long of Mannford in his Non-Wing Micro division 28L car. Long started 11th in the 25-lap A Feature and methodically worked his way forward, gaining five positions to finish sixth against one of the deepest fields of the night. Earlier, Long advanced two spots in his heat race to finish fifth, setting the stage for a solid feature performance.
33M
The Moss brothers were once again in the thick of the action. J.T. Moss qualified well in his No. 33M car throughout the evening, charging from seventh to second in his heat race before lining up sixth for the Non-Wing Micro A Feature. The Mannford driver ultimately crossed the stripe eighth, remaining in the top ten despite a fiercely competitive field.
51M
Older brother Ruston Moss had to take the longer route. Competing in A-Class Micro, Moss finished fifth in his heat race, sending him to the B Feature. There, he responded with a runner-up finish to transfer into the main event. Starting 16th in the A Feature, Moss drove his 5M car through the field but ultimately finished 17th after a hard-fought evening. While the result won't jump off the page, simply making the feature after coming through the B Main kept the Mannford racer in the hunt all night.
22
For Sand Springs, Ryker Jones turned in one of the area's strongest performances of the evening in his 22 car. Jones finished second in his Restrictor Micro heat race and backed it up with a podium run in the A Feature, bringing home third after starting fourth. He was in contention throughout the race and finished just behind winner J.J. Beason and runner-up Masyn Truitt.
56L
In Junior Sprint competition, the 56L car, driven by Giovanni Lucito of Sand Springs showed impressive speed. Lucito finished second in his heat race and advanced to seventh in the A Feature despite starting fifth. While he slipped a couple of positions in the main event, he remained among the division's top runners throughout the night.
10
Fellow Sand Springs racer Kinser Baker gained ground in the Junior Sprint feature, climbing from 16th to 13th in the No. 10 car, and posting one of the better improvement totals among the local drivers.
The Sand Springs contingent was especially visible in the Non-Wing Micro division, where No. 27E Ethan Wicker and No. 20 Shawn Wicker both earned feature starts. Ethan looked particularly strong early, winning his heat race and earning a fourthrow starting spot in the A Main. The feature proved tougher, however, as he slipped back to 10th at the finish. Shawn Wicker finished fifth in the same heat race and later crossed the line 16th in the feature.
Another Sand Springs racer, No. 57 Kaden Gramm, endured a frustrating night in Restrictor Micro. After starting on the pole of his heat race, Gramm faded to fifth and later finished 11th in the B Feature, ending his hopes of advancing to the A Main.
When the dust settled — actually there wasn’t much dust, but the clay gobs were flying — local drivers produced a handful of headline-worthy performances. Jones delivered a podium finish, Long cracked the top six in a loaded Non-Wing field, J.T. Moss earned another top-10 finish, and several other Mannford and Sand Springs racers showed enough speed to suggest bigger results may be just around the corner.